The Hidden Class Divide at Grace
Illustration by Juliette Robertson ‘25
The tuition at Grace Church for this school year was $62,720. With such a steep price tag comes assumptions about Grace students’ wealth and financial status. This assumption can create a school environment severely lacking in financial awareness.
As I have observed, many Grace students maintain a nonchalant attitude towards monetary-based privileges; to them, financial struggles are a rare or nonexistent worry. However, this is not the case for everyone in our community.
The assumptions about students’ wealth are undoubtedly present in our community and are injected into nearly every conversation we have, even the less obvious ones. The lack of financial awareness in our community and careless discussions around money have harmful implications, as they can isolate members of our community and subject them to rather uncomfortable situations.
In an interview with The Gazette, Tamyrha D. ‘24 described her experiences with conversations surrounding social classes and money at Grace. She addressed the lack of financial awareness at Grace, describing how “it seeps into the conversations and the little things that you say,” and can “make the people you’re with uncomfortable.”
Tamyrha explained that “it would just be beneficial for people to do the thinking and be more conscious of the things that they’re saying and who they’re saying it to. We would all be better off for it.”
What does this consciousness look like? The first step is to simply acknowledge the disparities of wealth in our community. Without this recognition, no change can be made.
The hidden class divide not only exists within our Grace community, but in the city as a whole. Living in a city with such socioeconomic diversity is a unique experience, requiring extreme awareness and willingness to learn.
Lina M. ‘24 led an MLK workshop earlier this year on the class divide between Avenues The World School and the housing complex across the street, based on the documentary Class Divide (I found the term “class divide” from this documentary).
Lina shared her perspective on this issue, stating, “I remember it was shocking to me when I was around other people who clearly didn’t understand the differences in wealth and in socioeconomic status — which I think is the biggest issue; just a blindness to it, or growing up with no awareness of not even the high school you’re going to, but the neighborhood and the city you’re living in.”
An absence of financial awareness has impacts on all students, no matter their socioeconomic status.
Camilla Campbell, Grace’s Director of Admissions and Enrollment at the high school division, explained her understanding of the matter from an admissions standpoint.
“I think it’s a disservice, actually, to our students to not have a class that is eclectic and diverse in all sorts of ways,” Ms. Campbell said, “so the students learn about that,” and discover that the lack of socioeconomic diversity in schools (New York private schools) is not representative of “the world they [students] are going to go into.”
Simultaneously, Ms. Campbell explained that “we are constricted by what our model is, in terms of being tuition-dependent. There’s just no choice around that.”
Tuition money is necessary for our school to function. As Grace is a private school, it does not receive governmental assistance and funding. This means that tuition is the primary source for financing our school. This tuition creates a barrier in Grace’s ability to achieve true economic diversity. However, this obstacle is not impossible to overcome. Grace’s existence as a private school is not an excuse to turn a blind eye to inclusion.
Robbie Pennoyer, the head of the school, spoke in an interview with The Gazette about how the school addresses socioeconomic issues in the middle and lower schools. Grace’s mission statement highlights the importance of belonging. Despite this goal, Mr. Pennoyer explained that there are obstacles to this belonging. These obstacles, despite their presence, are not impossible to overcome.
Mr. Pennoyer explained that the middle and lower school uniforms are “markers of belonging.” When one is wearing a uniform, their socioeconomic status is not on display through their clothing. By implementing a uniform in the lower and middle schools, Mr. Pennoyer hopes that young students avoid feeling self-conscious about the monetary value of their attire.
We do not have uniforms in the high school. In fact, we have nothing that limits how we present our financial status. Though young students may not have the ability to develop the same level of financial consciousness, we, as high school students, must learn. Part of this learning occurs through making mistakes. Rather than overtly addressing the issue (which may be beneficial to younger students), we must face it head-on.
Socioeconomic diversity and inclusion benefit all students, as they replicate the world beyond high school. Socioeconomic diversity is a reality. Students cannot be shielded from that fact and instead, must learn what it means through experience.
While students cannot change their socioeconomic circumstances, we can control how we choose to navigate conversations about wealth and the privileges that come with it. We must remove our assumptions regarding members of our community, and their socioeconomic status.
I am not implying that Grace students should stop talking about their new clothes or the vacations they are going on over spring break. Rather, perhaps we should just be more conscious of the fact that not everyone experiences wealth and money in the same way.
For example, instead of saying “Where are you going for vacation?”, we can ask, “what are you excited to do over break?”
It is okay to make mistakes; learning without them is impossible. Striving for financial consciousness is a vital part of being a member of any community, specifically one in which conversations surrounding wealth can be especially isolating.
Zamira Frost ‘24 is a senior writer for The Grace Gazette and the Student Body Leader for the High School Student Government.